EMERGING ARTISTS ONLINE |
PIANO SPHERES SATELLITE CONCERT
Boston Court’s 4th annual Emerging Artist Series is going virtual! This Series pairs talented young musicians with acclaimed mentors who develop a special program showcasing the young artist’s unique skills and musical viewpoint.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Andrew Anderson is a musician deeply invested in the performance of classical and contemporary music, in both solo and collaborative settings. He has worked with many established composers, including Donnacha Dennehy, Eve Beglarian, Lukas Ligeti, Courtney Bryan, and most recently with Pulitzer Prize finalist Ted Hearne in preparation for the LA Phil premiere of his oratorio PLACE. As a performer, he has had the great opportunity to perform at such venues as the Walt Disney Hall, REDCAT, and the Carlsbad Music Festival. As a collaborator, he has worked as vocal coach and performer for several opera productions, including the Southern California premiere of the Ned Rorem’s Our Town. Andrew attended the University of California, Irvine (BMus, 2017), and at the California Institute of the Arts (MFA, 2019), where he was recipient of the Fletcher Jones Foundation and Dumont Scholarships. His primary teachers have been Nina Scolnik and Vicki Ray. In addition to performing piano, Andrew teaches privately and is an aspirating piano technician.
You can read more about Andrew online at andrewandersonpiano.com.
ABOUT THE MENTOR
Described as “phenomenal and fearless,” Grammy nominated pianist Vicki Ray is a leading interpreter of contemporary piano music. Known for thoughtful and innovative programming which seeks to redefine the piano recital in the 21st century, Vicki’s concerts often include electronics, video, recitation and improvisation. As noted by Alan Rich, “Vicki plans programs with a knack for marvelous freeform artistry…what she draws from her piano always relates in wondrous ways to the senses.” As a founding member of Piano Spheres, an acclaimed series dedicated to exploring the less familiar realms of the solo piano repertoire, her playing has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times for “displaying that kind of musical thoroughness and technical panache that puts a composer’s thoughts directly before the listener.”
As a pianist who excels in a wide range of styles Vicki Ray’s numerous recordings cover everything from the premiere release of the Reich You Are Variations to the semi-improvised structures of Wadada Leo Smith, from the elegant serialism of Mel Powell to the austere beauty of Morton Feldman’s Crippled Symmetries. Recent releases include David Rosenboom’s Twilight Language on Tzadik Records and Feldman’s Piano and String Quartet with the Eclipse Quartet on Bridge Records. Her 2013 recording of Cage’s The Ten Thousand Things on the Microfest label was nominated for a Grammy.
Ms. Ray’s work as a collaborative artist has been extremely diverse and colorful. She was the keyboardist in the California E.A.R. Unit and Xtet. Her chamber music contributions to the vibrant musical life in greater Los Angeles include frequent performances on the Dilijan, Jacaranda and Green Umbrella Series. She performs regularly on the venerable Monday Evening Concert series and was featured in Grisey’s Vortex Temporum on the 2006 celebration of the re-birth of the series. Vicki has been heard in major solo roles with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, the German ensemble Compania, and the Blue Rider Ensemble of Toronto, with whom she made the first Canadian recording of Pierrot Lunaire.
She is currently head of the piano department at the California Institute of the Arts, where she has been on the faculty since 1991. In 2010 she was awarded the first Hal Blaine Chair in Music Performance. For the past eight years she has served on the faculty at the Bang on a Can summer festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Vicki Ray is a Steinway Artist.
PROGRAM
American Berserk (2001)……….John Adams (b. 1947)
I Have a Lot to Learn (2019)……….Andrew McIntosh (b. 1985)
Piano Sonata no. 2: “Being and Non-Being Create Each Other” (1991)……….Horatiu Radulescu (1942-2008)
fardanceCLOSE (2012)……….Chaya Czernowin (b. 1957)
Red Mesa (1993)……….Annea Lockwood (b. 1939)
Songs, clouds*……….Matt Sargent (b. 1984)
Concord Sonata (1920)……….Charles Ives (1874-1954)
2nd movement: “Hawthorne”
*Piano Spheres commission and world premiere
